Big 12 Basketball: Ranking all 16 head coaches for 2024-25 season

16. Kevin Young (BYU)

A new face to collegiate coaching, Young joins BYU this offseason with very little experience but extended work at the pro level. Young played D2 ball and then assisted at a few schools, including Utah Valley, before spending the last 18 years coaching professional basketball. He’s spent half a decade as G-League coach, worked in Ireland, and spent the last few seasons with the Phoenix Suns.

After Mark Pope departed, BYU acted pretty quickly in bringing Young aboard. He doesn’t have experience coaching and recruiting at the college level, but that experience in the NBA and G-League is valuable. Extended periods in both those leagues built his resume, with the Cougars hoping he’s the rare NBA coach who doesn’t flail at the collegiate level. Still, this is Young’s first foray into collegiate head coaching and anything could happen.

15. Wes Miller (Cincinnati)

As a player, Miller spent a season at James Madison before transferring to North Carolina, winning the national championship in 2005 as a bench piece. He got into coaching shortly thereafter, which much of his early experience at UNC Greensboro. Miller ascended to the top job for the Spartans back in 2011 and was fruitful for nearly a decade. UNC Greensboro actually averaged 25 wins in his final five seasons with a pair of trips to the Big Dance.

After building that profound success in the SoCon, Miller accepted the Cincinnati job in 2021, inheriting the mess left behind by predecessor Jon Brannen. The Bearcats have had decent records in his first three seasons, though they settled for a pair of trips to the NIT. Cincinnati played decent in their initial Big 12 campaign, though they’d tie for 11th during a 22-win campaign. Miller moves up the list when he gets Cincinnati back in the Big Dance.